An alert librarian was credited with helping in the arrest of a man wanted in connection with the fatal shooting and attempted carjacking of a University of Utah student near Red Butte Canyon, police said.
Austin Jeffrey Boutain, 24, was taken into custody at about 1:10 p.m. Tuesday at the Salt Lake City main library, 200 East and 400 South, said Salt Lake City police Chief Mike Brown on Tuesday afternoon.
“A big shout out to a librarian,” Brown said at a news conference.
The librarian “paid attention, recognized Boutain and called security,” Brown said. Security officers arrested him without incident.
Brown said Boutain was being questioned and would be booked into the Salt Lake County jail later this evening in connection with the Monday night shooting death of 23-year-old U. of U. international student ChenWei Guo.
Earlier Tuesday, University officials had announced that Boutain and his wife, 23-year-old Kathleen Elizabeth Rose Boutain, also may be connected to a recent suspicious death in Golden, Colo.
Boutain had been described as a white male with a tear drop tattoo on his face, as well as tattoos on his neck and an arm. He was last seen wearing black clothing and a beanie-style cap.
A massive overnight search for Boutian had been called off at about 11:30 a.m. Tuesday, after police said they believed he had outflanked them and escaped the police perimeter set up Monday night.
“Suspect is still outstanding,” the Salt Lake City Police Department had earlier tweeted. “Please consider him armed and dangerous!”
Assisted by a helicopter and snipers, hundreds of officers had scoured the foothills above the University, by walking five meters apart through thick brush, University police Chief Dale Brophy had said earlier at a morning news conference.
During the manhunt, University classes were cancelled and the campus was quiet and empty, aside from construction crews and a few students walking around the somber campus.
“In addition to the loss of this student, the trauma of last night’s event that we are still experiencing has clearly impacted our entire campus community,” said Dean of Students Lori McDonald.
Police added that they no longer believe Austin Boutain was driving a green pickup truck, but that truck was still being sought by police. The truck is believed stolen from the victim of a suspected homicide in Colorado, said Brophy.
Brophy said that the car involved the fatal carjacking at the mouth of Red Butte Canyon was not taken from the victim, and that Boutain fled on foot from the shooting scene.
University authorities on Tuesday identified the deceased carjacking victim as Guo, who is from China. They would not say whether he was alone in the vehicle when he was shot.
Brophy said Boutain and his wife, Kathleen Boutain, had been in Utah “a couple days.”
The Colorado homicide investigation began after police in Salt Lake City asked Golden police officers to conduct a welfare check on the owner of the green 2000 Ford pickup truck with Colorado plates that Boutain was allegedly driving in Utah.
Golden police said in a Tuesday news release that when officers arrived at an RV trailer parked in the Clear Creek RV Park, they found a 63-year-old man dead inside.
“Preliminary investigations indicate that the man had been deceased for a few days,” authorities said.
Police say there was obvious signs of trauma to the victim.
The Colorado victim’s identity was not immediately released, pending family notification. Golden officials said the victim had been staying at the Clear Creek RV Park on a short-term lease.
Golden police say the death is “suspicious” and is being investigated as a homicide. The Boutains are considered persons of interest in the case, Golden police said.
Police and prosecutors from Golden are expected to travel to Utah on Tuesday to gather more information, which could include interviewing Kathleen Boutain.
.@slcpd Chief Mike Brown discusses details of the search timeline and search effort last night following the shooting @sltrib pic.twitter.com/AmXenxhvlX
— Brennan Smith (@BrennanJSmith) October 31, 2017
Events began in Utah at about 8:15 p.m. Monday, when Kathleen Boutain came to the U. of U. campus and reported that her husband had assaulted her while they were camping in Red Butte Canyon, Brophy said.
While she was being treated for an unspecified injury just before 9 p.m., Brophy said, the woman’s husband killed Guo in an attempted carjacking at the mouth of the canyon.
Kathleen Boutain was subsequently arrested on Monday evening and booked into the Salt Lake County jail, where she was being held without bail on suspicion of theft by receiving stolen property and drug possession charges.
The woman admitted to police that she was “traveling in a stolen vehicle which contained stolen firearms,” according to a probable cause statement filed with the jail. Police say the woman also had a prescription bottle of generic Ambien that was not labeled, and other drug paraphernalia.
Salt Lake City police Chief Mike Brown said the suspect’s campsite was located Monday night. Police said officers recovered a rifle and ammunition cans. Police were not sure if the rifle was the same weapon used in the U. slaying.
Boutain reportedly has family in Minnesota and as recently as 2015 lived in the Cincinnati suburb of Millvale, in Ohio, according to Fox 19 TV. The station notes that he entered a guilty plea in May 2015 to “obstructing official business” in exchange for a disorderly conduct count being dismissed.
Fox 19 reports that Boutain had been accused of fleeing police in connection with an otherwise unspecified disturbance at Cincinnati’s Good Samaritan Hospital.
Alabama court records system shows Austin Jeffery Boutain was arrested in March in Marion County of drug manufacturing charges, according to WAFF 48 TV in Huntsville, Ala.
He was also arrested in February of 2016 on outstanding charges of theft and attempting to elude in another state. His court records also show he’s a registered sex offender who failed to notify people in Marion County when he moved there in 2016, WAFF 48 TV reported.
In Utah, the hunt for Boutain initially focused on an area east of Mario Capecchi Drive. That area of campus — which includes the school’s main residence halls, medical complex and research buildings — was locked down until about 3 a.m.
At least eight agencies — and hundreds of officers — from across the valley had responded to the scene on Monday night, including the FBI. Authorities had believed Boutain was in the foothills above Red Butte Canyon, but they also had searched the campus.
U. President David Pershing released a letter early Tuesday about the shooting, in which he talked about Guo.
“We have cancelled classes today in respect of ChenWei and the impact this violent event has had on our campus community. ChenWei was a pre-computer science major with a promising future and worked as a peer advisor in our International Student and Scholar Services Office,” Pershing wrote.
“We have been in contact with ChenWei’s family in China and they are understandably devastated by the loss of their son. We are working to bring them to Utah as soon as possible and will offer them all the assistance we can.”
Guo had been a pre-computer science major and worked as a student advisor at the U’s International Student and Scholar Services Center.
McDonald described Guo as “extraordinarily outgoing and charming, creative, smart, extremely engaged in our community over the year he has been here.”
A WayUp page for Guo said he was to graduate in 2019 and was a “future engineering leader.” It says he has worked for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as an interpreter and an information technology support worker.
Guo’s friends on Tuesday posted on his Facebook page that he served an LDS Church mission in Provo.
LDS Church officials added that Guo also served as a volunteer interpreter for the church.
In the wake of shooting, the Utah Museum of Fine Arts announced that its galleries will be open until 5 p.m. Tuesday “to provide campus and community a place for solace and reflection ...” according to a news release. No admission will be charged.